Summary: Jen’s friends have gathered at the hospital, and Jack tells them that she wants them to be happy and not cry when they visit her. Pacey is elected to see her first. Doug comes by with flowers and assures Jack that he’s still here for him. Dawson and Joey join Pacey in Jen’s room, and they don’t appreciate Jen’s black humor. Later, Joey goes home to the bed and breakfast, where Bessie accuses her of trying to avoid Christopher. She also thinks Joey’s still in love with both Pacey and Dawson. Bessie makes her call Christopher to officially break things off.

Dawson and Lily watch Harold and Maude, which Lily hates because Maude dies. (Uh, spoiler.) Dawson teaches her what a soul mate is, but Lily doesn’t care – she just wants to know if she can move into Dawson’s old room. Joey visits Pacey at the Icehouse and he makes her dinner. She calls him on continually complaining about being stuck in Capeside, since he has a great life there. He tells her that her return has reminded him of what he’s capable of.

They throw food at each other, and just when he’s about to start a serious conversation, she throws more food. She wonders if it’s okay for them to be having a good time while Jen’s dying. Pacey thinks this is the perfect time for some levity. The next day, Joey tells Jen about her breakup with Christopher; Jen says Joey always jumps into relationships with her heart, then jumps out with her head. They talk about Dawson’s show, and Jen admits that she hates the girl who was cast as her character. Joey says that at least Jen’s character gets to have sex.

Joey continues that the triangle isn’t about Sam choosing between Colby and Petey. She needs to make a decision for herself. Jen asks if they can use real names instead of character names. Joey wishes she’d seen the truth without the TV show. She’s always known who she’s supposed to be with, but fear makes her run, and she’s comfortable running. Jen offers to make it her dying wish that Joey make up her mind once and for all. Before Joey can share her decision, Dawson interrupts.

Dawson takes Jen outside so she can film a goodbye message for Amy. It includes a list of things Jen wishes for her, including the hope that Amy can believe in God, even if Jen doesn’t. It doesn’t matter if God exists or not as long as Amy believes in something. She also needs to love with her whole body and not run away from the person she falls in love with. Pacey shows Jen footage he stole from Dawson of the kids messing around with each other in the first season. It’s set to Alanis Morissette’s “Hand in My Pocket,” because of course it is. Then they talk about Joey, because of course they do.

Pacey says that she makes him feel alive, but Jen thinks he needs to feel that way because of himself, not someone else. She hopes he, Joey, and Dawson can stay friends no matter what happens. Jen starts crying and says she doesn’t want to leave her daughter alone. Pacey promises that Amy won’t be alone, and he’ll be spending Saturday nights with her. Suddenly Jen gets a surprise visitor – Andie.

Joey finds Dawson outside and he tells her he wasted too much time in his “Hollywood bubble.” He still owes the show a season-finale script, but he can’t think straight to write. Joey tells him not to feel guilty about being caught up in his own life. He isn’t sure why he even cares so much about a stupid show when his friend is dying. Dawson continues that seeing Joey again brought all his memories back. She tells him that they’re together every week on TV; he turned his life into something fictional, but it’s also real. As a writer, he gets to “live life twice.”

Pacey and Andie talk about Jen’s worsening condition, then lament that they haven’t kept in touch better. He says she was his first love, but he still hasn’t been able to get things right. She tells him it’s not about getting it right, it’s about recognizing when something’s wrong and fixing it. Jack asks Jen what will happen to Amy; he wants to take care of her. Jen thinks he would be a great father and asks him to help Amy find “a place to be.” She herself was always the instigator, and she wants Amy to be different, to belong. “You belong to me,” Jack says. “You’re my soul mate.”

Everyone passes the time in the waiting room, and eventually Jen wakes up, looks over at a sleeping Grams, and dies. “I’ll see you soon, child,” Grams tells her. There’s a wake at the Icehouse, where Doug watches Jack longingly and Pacey encourages them to talk. He finds Joey in the kitchen and tells her she’s “off the hook,” meaning he wants to let her go so he can be happy. He’s always loved her, but he needs to stop worrying about when the timing will be right. They both need to be happy, even if that means Joey has to be with someone else. It’s enough for Pacey just to have been in love with her.

Joey says she doesn’t want him to release her. Everything she’s done in her life has led her back to Pacey. She loves him, and that’s what’s kept her moving. Dawson is still her soul mate, but her love for him is innocent and tied to her childhood. She doesn’t want to be let off the hook because she’ll just keep running. Pacey asks what she means, but Gail and Bessie interrupt before she can explain.

Jack takes Amy to the beach, where Doug finds them. Jack tells him he’s thinking about moving to a place where Amy will be more comfortable having a gay parent. He’s tired of being a groundbreaker in Capeside; he wants to give Amy a normal life. Doug points out that Amy will have a gay parent no matter where she lives, and she’ll always have to deal with rejection. Jack just has to show her how to handle it.

Doug wants to help him, but Jack thinks he feels pity or a sense of obligation. Doug announces that he loves Jack, and that Jack will stand out no matter where he lives. Doug wants to stand out with him. They kiss, but Jack gets a little flustered when they spot an elderly couple walking by. Doug greets them and says he was just kissing his boyfriend. “That’s sweet, dear,” the wife says. The guys laugh.

Outside the Leerys’, while Alexander and Lily play together, Dawson has a flashback to Jen’s arrival in Capeside. Joey joins him and asks him to write a happy ending for his season finale. He muses on the phrase “life and death” since birth, not life, is the opposite of death: “Life has no opposite.” Dawson’s life is real, not fiction, for the first time in a long time. He knows he and Joey will always be connected because what they have goes beyond friendship or a romantic relationship. Just then Lily calls to Alexander to climb the ladder to her new room.

This inspires Dawson’s season finale, which includes Sam climbing up to Colby’s room to say, “I don’t want to wait for my life to be over. I want to know right now, what will it be?” (Gag.) Joey watches from her New York apartment as Sam and Colby kiss. “You and me. Always,” he says. Joey thinks this was the perfect ending. Pacey, who’s watching with her, admits to crying at the scene. They call Dawson in L.A. and learn that he has a meeting the next day with Spielberg. Then there are flashbacks, and then we’re done! Forever!

Thoughts: I mentioned that I started rewatching Angel (crazy Laura from Beverly Hills, 90210 was in the first episode), and there was also someone familiar in the second episode: Bodie. He had more dialogue in that one episode than he had in six years of Dawson’s Creek.

Summary: Two Dawson- and Joey-ish teenagers have a Dawson- and Joey-ish conversation in a room that looks a lot like Dawson’s. The guy’s name is Colby, and he wants to make sure the girl, Sam, is only friends with his best friend, Petey. Joey’s watching this on TV, on a show Dawson executive produces. When it’s over, a guy happily turns off the TV and complains about the writing. Apparently he’s a writer and Joey is his editor. He hates that she watches the show, but she thinks he secretly likes the show, too.

Dawson talks to someone about an episode they’re working on, then goes into a meeting with the writers, who are trying to figure out if Sam should be with Colby or Petey. They think putting her with Petey would be a good way to break the idea of “destiny.” As Dawson heads off to another task, we get exposition that he’ll be going to a wedding the next day. In Capeside, Doug pulls Jack over for speeding on his way to school. Jack asks if there’s something he can do to keep from getting points on his license. Doug kisses him, because they’re dating, because Doug is, in fact, gay after all. Uh-huh.

Pacey runs the rebuilt Icehouse and is still sleeping with older women, this time a married menu designer who totally looks like Gail. From her office, Joey calls whoever’s getting married and says she hopes the person liked the curtains she sent. She won’t be able to make it to Capeside for the wedding. Instead, she’s going away with the writer, Christopher. Her coworker approves of her decision to skip the wedding.

Jack’s class is one he teaches at Capeside High; he has his students reading Whitman and tries to get a jock to be comfortable reading about homosexuality. Jen shows up with her baby daughter, and contributes to some exposition – Jack and Doug have been dating for six months, but Doug is still in the closet, so they have to pretend they’re not together. Joey packs for her weekend with Christopher and finds a ring in his drawer.

The next day, Doug eats at the Icehouse, which he helped Pacey get. Pacey bugs him about Jack, encouraging him to be more comfortable with himself. Doug counters by bugging him about his not-so-secret girlfriend, Maddy. He also exposits that Pacey is 25, so five years have passed since “Joey Potter and Capeside Redemption.” Pacey wishes he could still be the bad boy he used to be. Dawson’s in Capeside, though he still hasn’t resolved the season finale of his show. Then he randomly runs into Joey at a gas station, because she’s in Capeside for the wedding after all.

The two have been emailing but haven’t seen each other for a while, and haven’t been great about keeping in touch. Dawson has to take a phone call from one of his actors, so Joey leaves. Dawson ends up at the Leerys’, and we learn that Gail’s the one getting married and Lily is now a film freak. Also, his show is called The Creek, because he’s just that creative. Over at the bed and breakfast, Joey tells Jen, Bessie, and Grams about the ring she found. Grams notes that if she decided to run instead of get engaged, Christopher probably isn’t her Mr. Right.

Bessie and Grams leave the room, and Jen admits to Joey that Grams isn’t doing too well. Joey offers to watch the baby, Amy, while Jen takes a nap. Doug and Jack go work out together and discuss the fact that they keep spending weekends together out of town. Jack wants to stay in Capeside since the only people who should care that Doug is gay don’t have a problem with it. Jack feels like they’re having an affair. Doug shoots back that he wasn’t a [gay slur redacted] at 15 like Jack. Jack points out that Doug was, he just couldn’t admit it.

Joey shows up at the Icehouse, and it’s clear that Pacey’s still in love with her. He points out a poster over the bar for The Creek and exposits that it came out of the film they all helped Dawson make. Speak of the devil, Dawson appears, but before things can get awkward, Jen and Jack join them. Reminiscing commences, and Jen learns that no one else is ready yet to laugh about Abby Morgan. Joey exposits that Audrey is singing backup for John Mayer and is dating a guy who’s completely different from Pacey. Also, Andie’s a doctor.

Jen’s a little drunk, so Jack decides to take her home before she can spill too many secrets. But first she lets us know that Amy’s father is an ex-boyfriend who left after Jen got pregnant. Joey decides to exit as well, leaving Dawson and Pacey alone. They ask each other if they’re really happy with their lives, and the fact that they both still want Joey remains unspoken. But at least they’re talking and not trying to kill each other with boats!

Jack finds pills in Jen’s bag, but Jen says they’re Grams’. Jack thinks Jen has changed the most out of all of them, considering she’s a mother now. He doesn’t know why he moved back to Capeside or why he puts up with Doug’s refusal to leave the closet. Jen understands his fear over changing. At the Leerys’, Dawson tries to write his season finale, then hears someone coming up the ladder. For some reason, he thinks it’s an intruder and not the obvious visitor, Joey. Meanwhile, Pacey closes up the restaurant, then gets his own visitor: Maddy’s husband and some thugs, who beat him up.

Joey and Dawson talk about their lives, including Joey’s relationship with Christopher and Dawson’s lack of a social life. She thinks he should wait to worry about that sort of thing since he’s living his dream right now. Dawson, however, isn’t sure why he’s slumming in TV when he always wanted to make movies. Joey points out that “dreams come true, not free.” She starts to go back to the bed and breakfast, but Dawson invites her spend the night (no, not like that).

In what’s clearly a dream, Joey (in a wedding dress) and Dawson (in a tux) recap the whole series in front of a bunch of wedding attendants. After they kiss, they turn into Colby and Sam, and Dawson wakes up. He’s in bed alone. After the real wedding, Gail and her new husband cut the cake. Pacey avoids Maddy and finds Jen taking pills, which she says are for anxiety. She compares him to George Bailey from It’s a Wonderful Life because he has everything before him but doesn’t want to be happy. He needs to realize that his life is fine and make the most of it.

Gail finds Dawson writing and accuses him of trying to hide from his friends. She caught Joey climbing down the ladder that morning. Dawson admits that he feels like he’s falling back into his past – his former life has become his present. Gail points out that since he’s the writer, he gets to tell his life however he wants. He goes to talk to Joey, but Pacey gets to her first and asks her to dance. Jack apologizes to Doug for their fight but says they can’t stay in their little bubble forever. Neither can be on the other’s schedule, so Jack thinks they should end things now.

Joey tries to get Pacey to tell her where the cut over his eye came from, but he avoids the subject. Jen cuts in to dance with Pacey and gets Dawson to dance with Joey. Joey tries to explain why she left that morning, and Dawson teases her for rambling. Jen asks to change partners again, so when Maddy comes back out to the dance floor, she sees Pacey dancing with Joey. Joey catches her watching them and puts the pieces together. Pacey asks her to help him out, then kisses her. Before the kissing can continue, Jen collapses.

Grams tells someone to get Jen’s pills, but Pacey says he just saw her take one. Grams announces that they need an ambulance – Jen is sick with some sort of heart ailment. Everyone ends up at the hospital, and Grams tells Jen’s friends that she’s had an abnormality her whole life but it didn’t come to light until she got pregnant. She doesn’t think this is anything serious. However, Jack didn’t even know there was a problem. Once Jen is stable, Grams sends everyone home, then goes off to call Helen.

Pacey drives Dawson and Joey home, and though the guys are optimistic, Joey thinks something’s really wrong. Christopher calls and Joey uses Jen’s illness as an excuse to stay in Capeside longer than she’d planned. Jack’s still at the hospital, where Grams is suddenly not so hopeful. Jack visits Jen and she admits that she didn’t tell him she was sick because she wanted to avoid dealing with it. Things started out all right, but now there’s nothing the doctors can do for her. Jen wants to do things right now, and that includes finally asking for help. Jack spreads the word about Jen’s condition and Joey ends up looking for comfort from Dawson.

Thoughts: Christopher is played by Jeremy Sisto. I know, weird, right?

Also weird: Maddy is played by Virginia Madsen. If it makes you feel any better, this was pre-Sideways Virginia Madsen. If it had been post-Sideways Virginia Madsen, it would be a lot more embarrassing for her.

After all those years of Pacey’s gay slurs, Doug is actually gay? I can’t believe it.

’90s music alert: Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be.” Which is weird, since this episode was filmed five years after that song came out and takes place five years after that.

Summary: Joey voices over something about how she can’t swear this is how things happened, but this is how it felt. Meanwhile, Grams and Jen hold a yard sale in preparation for their move to New York, Jack and Pacey move out of their apartment (still no sign of Emma). Audrey studies, and Dawson works at the Leerys’ restaurant. Joey rows over to the Leerys’ house and climbs the ladder, finding Dawson taking down all his movie posters. She still wants him to make his movie even without any money.

Joey continues that Dawson’s money problems aren’t Pacey’s fault. Dawson says that it’s just par for the course for them. He’s also upset that she’s choosing Pacey’s side, though she says she isn’t. Joey tells him that if he gives up now, everything will be a waste. Dawson says he doesn’t believe in it anymore. The movie was supposed to be “a celebration of friendship,” but he doesn’t want to tell the story anymore. Joey refuses to let him give up.

The next day, Joey gathers Jen, Jack, and Audrey at Grams’ and gives them assignments to make the movie happen. For example, Audrey will be playing Tamara. Jen suggests that she could play Eve, but Eve isn’t in the movie. Audrey asks who Eve is. “Long story. Ambiguous ending,” Jack replies. (So I guess Jen just never asked her mother about that, huh?)

Next Joey goes to Capeside to retrieve Pacey from Doug’s place. Pacey’s been filling his time by watching soaps in his underwear. Joey tells him they’re making Dawson’s movie for “$10 and a dream.” Pacey thinks he would just screw things up, but Joey insists that they need his help. He says things between him and Dawson will never be the same – and neither will things between anyone in the group.

Audrey and Joey bust Harley and Patrick making out, and Joey promises not to tell Hetson if the two of them do her a favor. Meanwhile, Jen and Jack try to get some film geek interested in the movie; Jen even offers to go out with him. He’d rather go out with Jack. Dawson comes home from the restaurant to find Joey, Jen, Jack, and Audrey in his room with all his movie equipment and posters. They tell him they’ve cast the movie for him and will help him make the film. And he doesn’t have to worry about work because Gail is firing him.

Production begins in downtown Capeside, starting with a scene between “Pacey” (Patrick) and “Tamara” (Audrey) at the video store. Joey and Gail have worked something out with Doug to get Pacey to make a delivery. Patrick and film student George start the scene where Pacey and Dawson met Tamara, but Audrey has problems showing skin. Patrick asks if she can just go naked. He narrowly escapes a beating at the hands of Joey. Meanwhile, Pacey tries to charm a dentist into doing a cameo in the movie.

The video-store owner isn’t happy about how long the filming is taking, so Doug (who’s blocked off the street for Dawson) takes him outside to distract him for a few minutes. Joey’s freaking out about how many things are going wrong, but Dawson likes the chaos because it leads to “happy accidents.” Speaking of happy (or at least things that make me happy), Todd arrives to lend a hand, having been told about the movie by Gail. Joey ends up as his errand girl.

Dawson tries to film the scene just before Jen’s first appearance on the show, but Harley (playing Joey) won’t let Patrick pull her into the water because she can’t swim. Joey makes Audrey tend to Todd while she splashes water and makes it look like Harley’s in the water when she isn’t. As Pacey keeps trying to round up townspeople, Joey assures Harley that her character isn’t a lesbian, so that’s not the reason she hates Jen.

Pacey ends up at a restaurant and runs into his old crush Kristy. She’s stunned that he doesn’t remember her. Grams watches the filming from the Leerys’ porch, enjoying that the kids are having fun with each other again. She’s ready to begin the next part of her life in New York. She says she misses Capeside every day but isn’t sorry they left. The two of them and Jack say goodbye to everyone and head off to New York.

Pacey and Kristy catch up, and she gives him her phone number and encourages him to call. As she leaves, Joey arrives and Pacey boasts that the girl who represents every girl who ever thought he was a loser is now interested in him. Joey notes that plenty of girls have told him over and over that he’s not a loser. Pacey still doesn’t want to go to the set, but he gives Joey a bunch of money, so apparently he’s spent all day taking donations. She tells him it’s not her fight.

Dawson wraps the first day of filming with a Joey/Dawson scene from the pilot. The day on the set has made Todd want to produce instead of direct. He also totally wants Audrey. She tries to resist his charms, but ultimately gives in. Dawson and Joey wind up back in their traditional spots on his bed, and he invites her to spend the night. He wonders what she would do if she woke up 15 again. Joey says watching the filming makes her feel like a weight has been lifted. He agrees, saying the movie will save him a lot of money on therapy.

The two talk about what a great day they had, then discuss what the movie is about. Dawson says it’s about a girl who had to grow up to realize she already had everything she wanted. He tells her he’s afraid that if he closes his eyes, she’ll leave. She doesn’t, but when he wakes up in the morning, he’s alone. Joey’s left him a note asking him to meet her by the fountain in what I guess are the ruins.

Dawson’s there at the appointed time, but instead of Joey, he meets Pacey. The guys aren’t sure how to get past their recent fight, since they both meant everything they said to each other. Pacey isn’t sure it’s possible to move on since they’re so different from the people they used to be. He thinks the only thing they still have in common is their love for Joey. The guys confirm that neither regrets the time he spent with Joey. Pacey thinks they’re both lucky that she would want to be with either of them.

Dawson notes that they both wanted Joey so much, they destroyed their friendship, but Joey only ever wanted them to be friends. Pacey asks if it’s possible for them to repair their friendship. After a long pause, Dawson says that anything’s possible. Pacey gives him the money, plus the news that the dentist will need a cameo. Dawson’s very touched and thanks him.

Joey voices over again as Dawson films the last scene, Harley rowing Joey’s boat. Jen and Jack walk through New York as Joey walks down another street in a city she’s finally gotten to visit: Paris. She talks about how her friends have shaped who she’s become, and how she loves them more every day. Bad things happened, but she’s able to remember the good times. She can’t swear this is how things happened, but this is how it felt.

Thoughts: Of course Joey’s the hero here. After all, the show is called Joey’s Creek, isn’t it?

Summary: Pacey is still outside the Leerys’ house, preparing to tell Dawson that he lost all his money. Dawson invites him in to see all the film equipment he bought with his new credit cards. His happiness and gratitude make it even harder for Pacey to give him the bad news. Which is why he doesn’t, even when Dawson gives him a script and asks him to be an associate producer.

In Boston, Jen’s mother Helen arrives for a visit Jen knew about but Grams didn’t. Grams is angry with Jen because she didn’t want Helen to know that she has cancer. Jen hasn’t told her but thinks she deserves to know. JackOsbourne is back at Worthington, which he might wind up attending. Audrey has a “Lifetime moment” since she and Joey are about to part ways for the summer. She gives Joey her furry pink pillow, for some reason.

Jen and the other Jack go grocery shopping so Jen can cook dinner for her mother and grandmother. She begs Jack to eat with them so she doesn’t have to face Helen on her own. Jack thinks C.J. will be enough moral support. Plus, he’ll be meeting Helen for the first time, then saying goodbye to Jen before going to New York for grad school.

Joey goes home to Capeside and finds The Untitled Dawson Leery Script on the front porch of the B&B. She then goes to the Leerys’, where the ladder is back in its usual place. Dawson tells her to climb it, so she does, discovering that he’s set up his room the way it used to look, with all the movie posters. She’s impressed with his eye for detail.

Jen, Grams, and Helen awkwardly have tea, and Jen comes up with an excuse to leave the room so the other two are forced to talk. Helen wonders why Jen summoned her to Boston, and why she and Grams have waited so long to reconnect. She likes the person Jen has become, especially considering the person she would have become if she’d stayed in New York. Grams is glad that she could help, and knows Helen would do the same if Grams needed her assistance.

Audrey and Jack Osbourne run into Pacey at Hell’s Kitchen; it’s the first time Audrey and Pacey have seen each other since she went to rehab. She’s surprised to learn that he’s thinking about drinking during the day. She asks him what he’s hiding from. Pacey laments that he let people believe in him, and now it’s coming back to haunt them. Audrey warns him not to try to deal with his problems by drinking.

Dawson and Joey recognize the awkwardness between them and how they haven’t talked in a long time. She wonders if being back in a familiar place might actually help them reconnect. Talk turns to Dawson’s screenplay, which he claims he gave to her so he could get an honest opinion from someone who hates him. Joey tells him he grew up. She thought she would escape while he remained a hopeless dreamer, but she was just trying to get away from growing up.

Joey continues that she’s realized how difficult it is for her to talk about intimacy, but it doesn’t mean she has to lose herself. Dawson thinks that sometimes you have to lose someone to realize how much that person meant to you. He tells her missed her. She assures him that this time, he got his screenplay right. She adds that she missed their friendship.

Helen meets Jack and C.J., thinking Jack is Jen’s boyfriend. (She’s forgotten that she met him before.) “I don’t know what the gays look like these days,” Helen says. Jen says Jack is her only friend, which is bull, and when Helen comments that Jen used to be popular, Jen tells her it was because she had so much sex.

Suddenly Uncle Bill bursts in to confront Grams over their breakup. He’s looked into the lies she told him and knows she has cancer. This is news not just to Helen but also to Jack. Bill wants Grams to let him care about her, and he encourages her not to give up. He doesn’t realize that not everyone in the room knew. Jen agrees with him that Grams needs to stop trying to be so strong and let her family take care of her. She also thinks they should move to New York and live with Helen. Helen agrees.

Joey leaves Dawson’s house late, just as Pacey is returning. He tells them both that his and Dawson’s money is all gone. Dawson reminds him that he wanted out of Stepatech. Pacey says he was just trying to do the right thing. Dawson replies that Pacey always wants to be the hero, but he’s so eager that he doesn’t see all the pieces of the puzzle. Pacey can’t believe that Dawson thinks Pacey screwed him over.

Joey tries to calm the two of them down, but Dawson says it won’t help. Pacey thinks they should address the elephant in the room. Joey protests, wanting them to keep business business. Dawson notes that he and Pacey haven’t been friends for a long time anyway. In fact, he doesn’t think Pacey has been his friend for a long time, since he made them competitors. If he hadn’t, he would have seen that they’re not that far apart.

Pacey says their worlds aren’t alike, and Dawson’s just upset that Pacey broke out of his. Dawson isn’t impressed at Pacey’s supposed success, especially since it made both of them broke. Pacey says that’s just life. He asks Dawson if he’s happy that he’s the better man now. Dawson says Pacey wrote him off long ago.

Pacey points out that Dawson hasn’t tried to get in touch with him for the past three years. Joey again tries to bring some peace. Pacey tells Dawson he didn’t mean to lose all his money and he’s sorry. Dawson says it was all a mistake from the beginning. Pacey walks off and no one tries to stop him. Then Dawson goes back into the house without saying anything to Joey.

Joey joins Pacey on a dock, though he thinks she’d rather be comforting Dawson. These are the roles they were meant to play. Joey says they chose to play these roles, and they’re now ghosts of the people they used to be. She doesn’t think they even remember how the whole mess started. If Joey wanted to go after Dawson, she would. She adds that no matter how much she loves Pacey, he only remembers the negative things.

Pacey says his best friend just walked away, but they haven’t even been friends for the past three years. Joey encourages him to let her be his friend. She may not fit where he wants her to, but that doesn’t meant there’s no place for her. She thinks the guys need to stop their rivalry because it’s been a moot point for a long time. Pacey needs to be the one to make the move. Joey says that ghosts don’t leave until they’ve made peace.

Back in Boston, Jack addresses Jen’s secret-keeping, saying she and Grams are basically his only family. Grams asks him not to feel sorry for him, just believe in her. He promises to visit them in New York, but Grams wants him to move there with him. Jack can’t really argue, since he was the one who wanted to go to school in New York in the first place.

Summary: Joey and Eddie are staring at each other at Hell’s Kitchen. He starts the writing workshop in the fall, and he’s come back to Boston to thank Joey for helping him get in. He appreciates that she did something so great for him even after he hurt her. If he’s going to be a writer, he wants her around. Joey reminds him that he walked away, and Eddie reminds her that he came back. She tells him she moved on. She tries to apologize but he’s already out the door.

The next day, Harley looks through Joey’s closet, trying to find Joey something to wear when she chaperones Harley’s school formal. Joey doesn’t remember agreeing to chaperone. Harley’s still a little worried about Patrick’s obsession with Joey, but Joey promises not to do anything with him. Over at Grams’, Jen and C.J. have worked out their sex problems and have moved on to talking about Grams, who apparent broke C.J.’s Uncle Bill’s heart. Jen says she’ll find out what happened.

Pacey calls Joey, who apparently never let him know the previous night that she wasn’t coming over after all. He wants to go out that night, but she’s going to Harley’s dance. Pacey realizes Joey will be dressed up and looking pretty, so he invites himself along. Dawson shows up at Pacey’s office with all his money from Todd’s movie – he wants Pacey to help him turn it into more money so he can finance his movie. Pacey’s hesitant to mix business with friendship. Dawson’s instincts are telling him this is a good idea, though.

Jen confronts Grams about ending things with Bill, noting the irony of Grams acting like a teenager while Jen is embarking on a real adult relationship. Grams doesn’t want to talk. Joey looks at pictures of her various exes before Pacey arrives with a couple of corsage options. One is for the fun-loving Joey and one is for the romantic, classical Joey. She picks the radish/carrot “fun-loving” corsage. She also has a rose for him.

Five seconds after getting to the dance, Harley starts complaining, since apparently Patrick isn’t going to dance. Joey says she knows how she feels, since Pacey isn’t a dancer either. Also, he broke up with her at their senior prom. Pacey offers to dance with Harley while Joey tries to fend off Patrick.

Dawson heads to Capeside and puts all his old movie posters up in his bedroom, for “inspiration.” Gail would like to know what he plans to do for money (and not just because she would like rent). Dawson thinks his movie will bring in enough to finance the next one. Gail asks if he has a plan B. He doesn’t know what that phrase means. She points out that making a hit movie is kind of a long shot, so he needs to be practical.

Harley dances with another guy, trying to make Patrick jealous. Joey and Pacey discuss their past prom disaster, and he says he’s glad he got a second chance. Joey completely fails to tell him about Eddie. Patrick gets in a fight with Jamie, the guy Harley was dancing with, and Joey has to remind Pacey that they’re supposed to be the adults there, so he needs to break it up. Harley ends up crying in the bathroom, wondering if Patrick said anything to Pacey about her.

Not really, but Pacey’s giving him a lecture about being an idiot. He tells Patrick to just ask Harley to dance. Joey assures Harley that she’s going through the same thing many girls have gone through, including Joey herself. Harley says that if her high school experiences are the same as Joey’s, she’s doing something wrong. Patrick tells Pacey that he does like Harley; Pacey tells him that having real feelings for a girl will make him a better person. He needs to be nice to her and tell her he likes her.

Joey admits to Harley that she’s had a bad experience at every dance she’s gone to, except this one. She heads to the boys’ bathroom, where Pacey and Patrick are goofing around. Patrick isn’t sure why he should take advice from Pacey, since he’s not exactly the greatest with girls. Pacey points out that he got Joey to go to a dance with him.

Jen relays a message from a doctor to Grams, wondering why she’s seeing a doctor Jen has never heard of. Grams tells her to stop digging for drama. Jen notes that Grams always makes her talk when she’s feeling mopey, so Jen’s repaying the favor. Grams confides that she has a malignant tumor in her breast. She’ll be starting radiation next week because the cancer has spread too far for surgery. Jen is shocked, but Grams doesn’t offer any comfort.

Pacey and Joey agree that the night has been nice, but Joey quickly ruins it by announcing that being with him doesn’t feel right. It’s not him, it’s her, basically. Pacey thinks she’s just scared about where things will go; he is, too. Joey feels sure that it’s not going anywhere. He thinks she’s just pushing him away the way she always pushes people away. He knows his feelings for her are the greatest thing he’s ever felt. He’s sure he can love her again. Joey silences him by announcing that Eddie’s back.

Dawson keeps trying to write something, eventually turning on the TV to watch Creek Days. Gail checks on him and he mentions that he appreciated the support he got from his family and friends when he worked on that piece. He admits that he doesn’t have a plan B, and never will. Gail suggests that he go back to film school to make sure he’s really committed. Dawson points out that he spent a year as a gopher; if that didn’t kill his dream, nothing will. Plus, school costs money. He wants Gail to believe that he’ll fulfill his dream.

Gail launches into a story about the time Mitch tried to make gum in their kitchen. Dawson was five and served as sous chef, but something happened that resulted in his parents having to shave his head. Gail thought Mitch’s dream was based on his love of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Even though the experience drove Gail crazy, she also admired it, and the way he was willing to do crazy things to make his life the way he thought he could be when he was a kid. In other words, she supports Dawson.

Jen finds Grams in the kitchen, baking, and tells her it’s okay to be scared. Grams doesn’t think it will do any good. Jen asks what she can do to help, and not just in the kitchen. Grams wants to deal with it on her own. Jen thinks they both need someone to take care of them. Grams tries to assure her that she could go into remission and live a long time. She promises that she’s not going anywhere because she’s not ready to die yet.

Patrick finally dances with Harley, promising that he didn’t come just to get in her pants. He didn’t want to have to think about her coming there with another guy. Pacey and Joey dance, but it’s pretty depressing. Joey ends up at Eddie’s house, kissing him, so I guess they’re back together or whatever. Hooray.

Thoughts: You guys, I’ve been spelling Gail’s name wrong this whole time. Oh, well, too late to change it.

Pacey wonders what kind of school dance has a punch bowl. What kind of school dance doesn’t have one?

Dreams are great, Dawson, but you MUST HAVE A PLAN B. Otherwise you end up living in a cardboard box.

Joey, you’re an idiot. I don’t care how cute or charming or talented Eddie is. You’re choosing him over PACEY. Unacceptable.

November 17, 2012

“Yeah, this is totally just as good as sex. I don’t feel dissatisfied at all”

Summary: Pacey walks Joey to her dorm after a date, and despite the fact that they just spent a whole evening together, he’s just now telling her that he recently got a promotion. He now has an office and a secretary. Joey, however, has had her hours cut because everyone’s on spring break and no one’s going to Hell’s Kitchen. Pacey asks her out again and they kiss awkwardly.

C.J. spends the night with Jen at Grams’, though they didn’t have sex. In fact, they haven’t had sex for a week. Jen says her sex drive isn’t the same as his, and they can be intimate in different ways. He’s disappointed to realize that she means by cuddling. Joey brings Pacey an office-warming gift and briefly meets his secretary, who Rich has just fired. Rich is a jerk to Joey (I know, shocking), then suggests that she fill in as Pacey’s secretary while she’s on break.

In L.A., Dawson pitches a movie (I guess it’s his stupid Creek Daze thing) to Heather Tracy, and though she thinks it’s a good idea, she doesn’t think it’s right for the studio. It needs more sex. Dawson thinks the lack of sex makes it unique. Heather won’t back down, telling him to add in an affair with a teacher or something. He doesn’t think that will be a problem. Jen and C.J. work at the helpline; she tells someone on the phone that C.J. won’t stop talking about sex.

Joey is immediately popular with the guys at Pacey’s office, because she’s just that hot. Later, he reminds her that he likes coffee in the morning, but she tells him to make it himself. Pacey complains to Rich that the guys are all over her, and he feels uncomfortable telling a friend what to do. Rich tells him a reporter is coming in for a newspaper interview and seems interested in Pacey. Joey’s interested in the reporter’s interest.

C.J. chastises Jen for using their own relationship problems to counsel other people. She points out that if a girl called to say that her boyfriend was pressuring her to have sex, C.J. would counsel her about that. He’s basically upset that Jen had sex with jerks but won’t have sex with him. She thinks he’s calling her a slut.

Heather prepares Dawson for another meeting with Larry (the studio executive from “Day Out of Days”). He remembers Dawson and is happy that he got Natasha into bed. (Heather told him about that.) Dawson pitches his stupid movie, trying to describe it as a coming-of-age story, but Heather blurts that it’s a teen sex comedy: “American Pie meets Stand By Me.” Larry just wants the actresses in the movie to take their clothes off.

Dawson continues, saying that the lead character is a good guy but it gets in the way of his interactions with girls. Larry quickly loses interest, so Dawson says the lead falls in love with a girl from school who’s actually a stripper. Larry likey. He tells Dawson he has a deal and doesn’t want to hear any more about the movie. In fact, Dawson should stop talking because any more information could work against him. But Larry would like to hear more about Natasha.

Joey gives Pacey some numbers he was waiting for (and which she should have given him earlier), then accidentally hangs up on the person he was talking to. She tells him she didn’t want to learn secretarial skills because if she was too good at those tasks, she wouldn’t be able to move forward in her career. (Shut up, Joey.) The reporter, Sadia Shaw, arrives, and Pacey’s already met her: She’s the mystery woman from “All the Right Moves.” Joey’s displeased.

Dawson visits Todd (Todd! I missed you!) on the set of a music video and accidentally interrupts his attempts to seduce someone. Sadia interviews Rich and Pacey about Stepatech; Joey tells Pacey he has a call from Jack and expresses surprise when he doesn’t want to talk to his own roommate. Then she loads Pacey’s sugar with coffee and spills cream on Sadia. Rich takes Sadia to his office so Pacey can deal with Joey.

Todd doesn’t get why Dawson is torn about his movie – work is work, and he wants to direct. Dawson already feels morally compromise after some of the things he did for Todd. Todd tells him to decide what kind of filmmaker he wants to be. If he wants to do it his own way, he should reject the studio’s offer. Todd worked hard enough to get where he is, even though it meant making some bad stuff in the process.

Things are tense between Pacey and Joey, and she finally asks how he knows Sadia. He chastises her for not acting professionally. She blasts him for just treating her as a girl who pours coffee. All the assistants in the office are hot and no one respects them. Pacey says he doesn’t pay attention to them; he comes to the office to work, and Joey made that difficult for him today. He doesn’t have to respect her or be nice to her because she’s his secretary.

Joey’s upset about that, of course, and Pacey tells her to just do her job and accept the money happily. She tells him that his secret nickname in the office is Witless. Then she makes comments about Sadia, letting Pacey know that she’s jealous (which, of course, she denies). Pacey asks her to take dictation so he can write Sadia an apology for Joey’s behavior: “She’s new and very bad.” This leads to a makeout session that’s interrupted by Rich.

Jen and C.J. have a silent dinner with Grams, finally blurting out their problems. Grams says that Jen is trying to have her first well-rounded relationship, and C.J. is worried that Jen will always like bad boys more than her. Jen says that “nice pecs and a good six-pack only go so far.” C.J. replies that that didn’t help: “I have nice pecs.” She tells him (through Grams) that she’s had the best sex of her life with him. C.J. apologizes and promises to cuddle whenever Jen wants.

Dawson meets with Larry and Heather again, having added a fire in a strip club to his script. Larry suggests the title Sunset Stripped and requests a minimum of three nude scenes. Finally Dawson has had enough and gives a speech about wanting to write about growing up and falling in love and blah blah blah. He can’t take the studio’s money. Larry still wants to make the stripper movie, though.

Joey goes back to work at Hell’s Kitchen, and Pacey visits because he wants to be abused some more, I guess. He also informs her that she’s no longer his secretary. She thinks it’s because she sucked at the job, but Pacey says it’s because she’s a distraction. Joey makes him tell her why. They make out some more, then agree to meet at Pacey’s place after she closes up. But right after Pacey leaves, Eddie arrives.

Thoughts: I didn’t mention in his first episode that Larry is played by Paul Gleason, the principal from The Breakfast Club, which is just one more John Hughes reference for the series.

Joey objects to Pacey calling her a secretary, like, hi. You’re a secretary. There’s nothing wrong with it. You’re the one making a big deal of it and saying it’s a job that doesn’t require a high level of training or allow a lot of room for career development. I work for a company that provides a lot of resources for secretaries/administrative assistants, and it’s NOT an easy job. And there is a career there, and room to take on more responsibilities and projects. So Joey can just shut up.

In case there’s any question about the kind of movies Larry makes, there’s a poster in his office for one calls That’s What She Said.

Another Jack-less episode. Who did Kerr Smith tick off?

I imagine that right after dinner, Grams went to church to pray for Jen and C.J.’s souls.

Summary:Audrey’s finally going to rehab, mostly because Joey’s making her. Audrey thinks she’s being overdramatic about her blackout. She’s also mad that Joey called her parents. The girls joke around, but Joey makes it clear that she cares about Audrey’s well-being. She also wants to know if Audrey hooks up with Ben Affleck in rehab. Audrey thanks her for not giving up on her.

Sometime later, Joey starts to head to class but is held up by a visit from Eddie. He wants to say goodbye, and to admit that she was right when she said he never takes chances. He’s going to California to stay with his sister while he looks into the writer’s workshop Hetson is recommending him for. They hug goodbye, then start to kiss, but are interrupted by a call from Audrey’s mother reporting that she never made it to California.

Dawson directs the reshoots, getting a lot of crap from the director of photography, who should really be more respectful of the guy who’s having such a major effect on his future. Natasha asks Dawson why the scene they’re working on sucks so much. Then he randomly takes a phone call from Gail. Natasha throws another wrench in the works by telling Dawson she won’t be getting naked for the movie.

Grams comes home angry and tells Jen and her still-horrible hair that she and Clifton may have just broken up. He wanted her to convert to Judaism, which she has no interest in doing. Joey and Eddie track down Audrey in a hotel room where she spent the night with a guy named Bob. Bob is currently smoking pot and Audrey is currently asleep in the bathtub.

Joey tells Audrey that Eddie’s on his way to L.A., and he’ll drive the two of them to rehab. Audrey doesn’t want to go, but Joey talks her into a road trip. Her one condition is that Bob comes along. The four of them spend the first few hours of the drive mostly silent, until Joey and Eddie start fighting about how she hasn’t thanked him and he left her in the first place and blah blah blah.

Heather arrives on set to criticize Dawson for running behind and turning in weak work. She reminds him that his work on the reshoots will define the rest of his career. Dawson calls Todd for help but can’t reach him. Natasha overhears and mocks him for looking for rescue. She also questions the exposition he’s written into a scene, since she thinks it can all be dispensed with and condensed into a look. She refuses to do the scene if she has to do the exposition.

During a pit stop, Eddie tells Audrey not to stand on the hood of his car since she may be rich but it’s all he has. She insults him for being poor, then asks Joey who she was talking to on her cell. Joey denies that she made any calls, but Audrey sees that Joey called her mother. She’s mad that her mom didn’t put forth much effort to get her daughter into rehab. She also thinks that for Joey, the road trip is about Eddie, not Audrey.

Joey finally thanks Eddie for putting up with everything during the trip. He tells her it’s more interesting than going on his own. Then Audrey takes off in his car. Meanwhile, Jen and C.J. work a boring shift at the helpline, and she brings up Grams’ breakup. C.J. can sympathize since his widowed Uncle Bill is mopey and lonely. Jen suggests setting the two of them up.

Eddie tries to hitchhike, but Joey’s uncooperative. She seems more upset over having to be with Eddie than she is about Audrey being in trouble. Eddie says Joey can’t help Audrey if she doesn’t want help. Joey accepts this, saying she’s having a hard time letting her friend go. He admires her for being a good friend. Joey wonders what he’s getting out of this. Eddie notes that he gets to spend time with her.

Joey says that Audrey thinks the road trip is about Joey, too. She admits to having trouble letting go of Eddie. She feels like she’s dragging out the inevitable end of things. Eddie tells her he’s never cared about anyone the way he cares about her, but it’s too late. Even though he screwed up, he still loves her. Joey doesn’t get why he would leave her in that case.

On the set, Natasha bugs Dawson some more, then reminds him that directing a real movie is completely different from directing a film with his friends. He needs to show some authority and command respect. Jen and C.J. double date with Grams and Uncle Bill, but it quickly goes downhill when he learns that she’s “one of those religious broads.” They bicker until it looks like Grams is going to cry, but she actually starts laughing.

Dawson finally puts on his big-boy pants, fires the director of photography, and announces to everyone that he’s the director so he’s in charge. He makes sure Natasha knows she needs to stay in line, too. Heather approves, telling Dawson that he has no idea how close he was to getting fired.

Audrey and Bob wind up at a bar, where some guy hits on Audrey and invites her outside to “see his truck.” He actually means have sex with him, and when she declines, things get violent – on Audrey’s part. Joey and Eddie arrive to find Audrey beating the guy up, and when they pull her off of him, she says she thinks it’s time to go to rehab.

The double date ends much better than it started, and C.J. praises Jen for her good idea. She wishes she could be more successful in her own love life. After all, the last guy she liked slept with her friend. C.J. says that if he’d known then what he knows now, he wouldn’t have slept with Audrey – he wouldn’t have wanted to hurt someone as amazing as Jen. He starts to kiss her and she pretends to reject him before kissing him herself.

Dawson wraps for the day and Natasha invites him to get a drink. Meanwhile, the world’s worst road trip finally ends in L.A. Audrey finally apologizes to Eddie for being a jerk, and he admits that she’s not so bad when she’s not being one. Audrey and Joey say goodbye, and Audrey says that Joey needs to let Eddie go. She doesn’t know what to do with Bob, but she plans to tell her parents that they got married in Vegas.

Dawson’s drink with Natasha appears to have turned into a night together, and she suggests getting together to talk in a couple weeks. He tells her it’s not necessary; he always takes relationships too seriously, and now he’s learning to have fun. Natasha’s sure that someday he’ll be a big director and will do her a favor by giving her a role. She’s proud of how Dawson took control on set.

Joey and Eddie walk around the writer’s workshop campus, then start to say goodbye. Eddie decides, however, that instead, they should make plans to meet up in a year, possibly in Paris. In case they don’t make it there, Joey wants him to know that she’ll never forget him. In other words, she loves him, too, and will keep doing so as long as she can. Then there’s, like, a full minute of kissing.

Thoughts: As you can see from the picture, Bob is played by Seth Rogen, who’s reuniting with Busy Philipps, his Freaks and Geeks co-star.

Don’t actresses have nudity clauses in their contracts? And what happened to Dawson’s belief that nudity in movies isn’t necessary – his thing that since Spielberg doesn’t use it, he doesn’t need to either?

Jen wears an orange sweater with a pink elephant on it. So along with the hairstylists, Michelle Williams must have also ticked off the wardrobe department.

I wish Pacey had been in this episode – we haven’t seen his reaction to Audrey’s drinking.

Summary: Dawson and Joey’s clothes are all over the floor. They wake up and make out, then go back to sleep. Later Joey wakes up alone, finding a note saying Dawson went to get breakfast. He also brings her a rose. She thinks they should talk about how having sex will change things, but he’d rather just make out. Audrey starts to order hotel room service for her and Pacey, but he wants her to go to class while he goes on his job interview. She tells him he’s guaranteed to get the job since her dad pulled strings.

Jen’s worried that Grams is taking a math class because it might mean she’s trying too hard to get close to Clifton. (Never mind that she told Grams to take a math class in the previous episode.) Her rant is interrupted by a guy who recognizes her voice from her radio show. He bugs her about why she’s not doing the show anymore. (She had a disagreement with the new manager.) Grams invites the guy to sit with them.

Pacey learns that if he gets the job as a stock broker, he’s going to become unlikable. At least that’s what I’m getting from that. He also needs to pass a stock broker exam on the first try or he’ll be out of the program. Pacey wonders why anyone would want the job in the first place. He’s told that he’s selling the hope of success. Pacey tells the head of the program, Rich Rinaldi, that he’s already made up his mind and wants the job. Rich advises him to wear a suit that’s less gay. (Because the suit is Jack’s, you see. Ha ha?)

Dawson and Joey make awkward conversation; she admits that she spent 15 minutes trying to figure out what to say (which wound up being “hi”) and he admits that his note that morning was preceded by four other drafts. Todd interrupts, calling to demand that Dawson meet him right away. Hilariously, he’s in Dawson’s cell phone as Satan. Dawson tries to make sure that everything between him and Joey is okay. She reassures him by kissing him.

Dawson meets up with Todd, who wonders where he was the night before. Dawson refuses to give him any details since he’s always wound up talking himself out of things. Joey goes to Hell’s Kitchen, where Eddie’s rude to her. They have that kind of argument that you know will turn into sex sooner or later. Emma gives Joey a job application and tells her that Eddie’s a bartender there. Pacey cooks at Grams’ house, where Jack tells him he’s had no luck finding them an apartment. Pacey really wants to live with Emma, but Audrey doesn’t think he’ll be able to change her mind.

Jen winds up chatting with C.J., the guy from earlier, but starts to suspect he’s trying to talk to her about Jesus. He really just wants her to join a peer-counseling program. Joey meets Dawson on Todd’s movie set, and he tells her they’re making a horror movie. They’ve recreated his house as one of the sets. Todd spots the two of them together and figures out where Dawson spent the previous night.

Pacey and Jack take Audrey to Emma’s apartment to pretend she wants to move in. They’re all too late since Emma has already found two other (female) roommates. Jen goes to a meeting about peer counseling, but it’s clearly not her kind of place. (Example: The number-one rule is not to be afraid to ask for a hug.) She tells C.J. she only came because she made a promise to herself over the summer that she would try new things. She warns him that she’s not as great as he thinks she is. He hopes she changes her mind about herself.

Pacey tries to talk Emma out of rooming with girls, promising that he’ll cook and not have sex with her. Audrey is unhelpful. Meanwhile, Jack quietly tells the girls that there are mice in the apartment. Audrey’s worried that Emma’s hatred of Pacey has a deeper meaning. The girls take off and Jack gleefully celebrates his “lack of ethical boundaries.” Back on the movie set, Dawson asks Joey out for dinner. Or in for dinner, really, since he’s set up a date on the porch of his recreated house.

Later, Dawson walks Joey back to her dorm, but there’s no repeat of the previous night’s activities – Dawson gets a call from a girl and Joey gets mad. Then Audrey interrupts to ask when they’re coming in, since their friends are in the room to throw Joey a surprise belated birthday party. Joey tries to put on a happy face but eventually drags Dawson into the bathroom to yell at him for sleeping with her while he had a girlfriend. “This is a very unhappy birthday,” Jen comments.

Joey figures out that when Dawson went to get breakfast that morning, he was also breaking up with the girl. Dawson assures her that the girl means nothing to him. She still wishes he’d told her before they hooked up. Joey polls the others, and Jen and Audrey are on her side. Pacey and Jack get everyone to leave, though Audrey asks Joey’s permission first.

The Dawson/Joey fight continues and she accuses him of sleeping with her just to cross it off a list. She thinks their first time together didn’t mean enough to him. He replies that she doesn’t know what she wants. She’s still a scared little girl. Joey finishes his thought, saying she’s the same girl who broke his heart. She’d love for him to stop bringing that up. Dawson says that she’s always wanted to escape. He’s living in the real world while she wants the fantasy. “Is this really the way you want things to end between us?” he asks.

Jen, Jack, Pacey, and Audrey end up at Hell’s Kitchen, discussing the co-dependent saga of Joey and Dawson. Jack starts to apologize to Emma for that afternoon, and she quickly says that he and Pacey can move in with her. Jen and Audrey are wary about toasting the move, so the four of them toast to friendship.

Joey collects herself, then warns Dawson not to miss his flight. He tells her that she’s the one who doesn’t want to deal with their relationship. She wants them to be together, but not if they’re going to keep fighting about the past. She thinks there might not be anything for them to salvage, and the previous night could have been a mistake. Dawson leaves, then turns to go back into the room. Joey’s hand is also on the doorknob, but neither opens the door.

Thoughts: C.J. is played by Jensen Ackles from Supernatural, as you can see above. He sure is pretty.

Todd’s shooting the movie in Boston because…?

Jack is kind of awesome. They need to give him actual things to do.

Pacey wears two party hats like horns. It’s cute but still doesn’t distract from his horrible goatee. You’re going to need to bring your A game, Witter. You have to go up against C.J. now.

What’s the lesson here? Birthday sex with a longtime love just never turns out well. (See also: Buffy.)

This is Joey’s professor. Just imagine him in a colorful shirt and flip-flops, and COVERED IN MY KISSES

Summary: Previously on Dawson’s Creek, Joey considered going to Paris. Then she didn’t. In an incredibly cheesy voiceover sequence, she tells us that instead, she spent the summer in Capeside, waiting tables and reading. She met a boy, but he announced he was in love with her way too soon. Pacey and Audrey spent the summer in L.A. Jack and Eric dated, but then Eric dumped him (via email) for someone else. Jen went to the Hamptons and learned that her parents are divorcing. She was thrilled. Joey doesn’t know how Dawson’s summer went since they haven’t talked since the airport.

Joey runs across the Worthington campus and straight into someone deliciously snarky who’s wearing a Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops. Joey’s late for a meeting with Professor Hetson, who isn’t even in his office yet. Oh, and he’s the deliciously snarky guy. Audrey, Pacey, and Pacey’s unattractive facial hair are also at Worthington, along with a friend of Audrey’s whose parents want him to go to school there. It’s Jack Osbourne, because this was the early 2000s when Hollywood was contractually obligated to put at least one of them in everything.

Audrey’s worried that now that the summer’s over, she and Pacey will fall apart. He wonders why she isn’t rushing to get to class. She notes that nothing happens the first day of school. Pacey promises that he had a great summer and appreciates that her father has given her some job prospects. Audrey worries that Pacey will turn into a “lame 9-to-5-er.” He wants to make a change from the restaurant world.

Hetson tells Joey of an opening in the English department for a research assistant. She’s not that interested, but he tells her it’s a job a lot of people would love. He notices that she’s in one of his classes even though she’s only a sophomore. Joey assures him that she’s up for the challenge. He calls her bluff and tells her to read Last Exit to Brooklyn before the first class (which is that afternoon).

At Grams’, Jen asks if there’s anything noticeably different about her. The change is that she’s happy. If her parents can take steps to make their lives better, Jen knows anything’s possible. “What’s happened to my granddaughter?” Grams asks. “If you’ve eaten her, I want you to spit her out this instant.” Then Clifton calls, so that’s still going on. Jen uses the distraction of the phone call to give Jack and his latest boy toy a chance to escape the house without being spotted.

Pacey rushes to Joey’s room to tell her that no matter what, she doesn’t want him to stay there. Audrey arrive next and asks Joey if Pacey can stay with them for a few days. Joey respects Pacey’s wishes and says no. He pretends to be hurt. Joey gets to reading, but is distracted when Dawson calls, leaving a message on her machine to tell her he’s in town. (It sounds like Todd’s with him.) He wants to meet at a coffee shop, and Joey decides that’s more important than her reading.

Pacey winds up at Grams, getting ready for a job interview with a stock broker. Jack thinks he’s just obnoxious enough for the job. (Heh.) Pacey replies that Jack’s life is a little dull. Jack agrees, noting that it’s tough to bring someone home to a house where a grandmother lives. Pacey suggests that the two of them get a place together. Jack says it’s a bad idea, though he’ll need some time to figure out exactly why.

Jen goes to her art history class and is stunned to see that one of her fellow students is Grams. Grams tried to tell her that morning, but Jen was talking too much. She went to one of Clifton’s summer-school classes and remembered how much she liked learning, so she decided to enroll. Pacey visits a loft he’s interested in and meets the current tenant, Emma, who could give Hetson a run for his money in the snark/sass category. Pacey promises that if he and Jack moved in, neither of them would fall in love with her. She decides to interview some other potential roommates.

Jen and Jack have a pop-culture class together, and they both think the teacher, Professor Freeman, is cute. They just can’t decide if he’s gay. (He appears to be straight, as he says he’s married.) Joey waits for Dawson at the coffee shop with ten minutes to go before her class. She winds up heading back to campus and arriving at class late. Hetson calls her out on it, then answers her phone when Audrey calls. He does relay her message that Dawson couldn’t make it but will meet her and the others at Hell’s Kitchen that night.

The class starts discussing Last Exit to Brooklyn, and Hetson calls on Joey first. She admits that she didn’t get to read the whole thing. He’s disappointed but wants to know what she thought of what she did manage to read. Joey says it was heartbreaking – the characters are in a horrible world. Another student, Eddie, disagrees; he thinks Joey’s condescending for thinking there can’t be beauty in that horrible world. Then he winks at Joey, so he’s already on my list.

Emma turns out to be a waitress at Hell’s Kitchen, which Pacey thinks is a sign. He makes it clear that he’s dating Audrey, so she doesn’t need to worry about him. Audrey announces that she doesn’t want him living with a hot girl. (Emma’s just flattered that Audrey thinks she’s hot.) Pacey next introduces Emma to Jack, but that still doesn’t sway her toward letting them move in with her. Joey arrives and meets up with her friends, but Dawson still isn’t there.

Later in the evening, Joey asks Pacey why he didn’t want to stay with her and Audrey. Pacey reminds her of their return to Capeside after their summer on the boat, and how they didn’t want to go back to the real world. He adds that Hollywood Audrey tired him out. Joey’s torn between supporting him and wanting to warn him that if he hurts Audrey, she’ll hurt him.

Back with the others, Joey wonders where Dawson is. Audrey says the whole summer was like this – Dawson was always with Todd, working as his assistant. Oliver ditched L.A. after a bad experience, leaving Dawson a note reading, “I’ll see you in Hell, Leery.” Audrey’s surprised that Dawson and Joey didn’t talk all summer. Joey heads to the jukebox and tells off a guy who’s hassling Emma. They bond over bad experiences waiting tables. Emma lets Joey know there’s an opening for a waitress at the restaurant.

Pacey decides to leave since he has his job interview the next day. Audrey’s disappointed that he doesn’t have the energy he had all summer. He points out that she has classes the next day, but Audrey thinks socializing should take priority. She tells him she got them a nice hotel room for the night so they can have one more night of vacation before returning to their normal lives. Joey debates her two job options with Jack and Jen, who know her well enough to know she’ll opt for the research-assistant position.

Jen and Jack leave, but Joey decides to stay and wait for Dawson. She’s there for a long time and finally decides to leave. Of course, that’s when he shows up. They talk about their summers, and Dawson relays a story about speaking to Steven Spielberg on the phone (for two seconds when he called for Todd). He’s pleased that Joey waited around for him, though she claims it’s because she’s been waiting all night for her song to come up on the jukebox.

Joey brings up the fact that they spent the whole summer incommunicado. Dawson says he felt good about the two of them after she told him things would work themselves out. She thinks this means they’re really growing up. He seems different, but in a good way. Joey’s song finally plays, and she tells Dawson that it reminds her of the two of them seeing Clueless in middle school. He grabbed her hand when they ran across the street to Gail’s car, and it made her happy. This song was playing on the car radio.

Dawson asks Joey to dance, and after they do that for a while, he walks her to her dorm. She tells him he can sleep in Audrey’s bed if he wants, since she’s at the hotel. He falls asleep as she gets ready for bed, then wakes up and turns her clock forward so he can give her her birthday present on her actual birthday. It’s a Hollywood snow globe. (Way to break a five, Dawson.) He tells her that even though they didn’t talk all summer, she was still with him. They hug each other for a long time, and then there’s kissing, and then their clothes come off.

Thoughts: Hetson is played by Roger Howarth, who soap fans would know as Todd Manning from One Life to Live and General Hospital. Hetson is pretty much exactly like Todd, just with a different wardrobe and no scar. And he hasn’t swapped any babies yet. (Aside to General Hospital watchers, specifically Jason/Sam fans: Hetson’s shirt has dragons on it. That has to mean something, right?)

Eddie is played by Oliver Hudson, brother of Kate.

Pacey, your hair makes you look like the Heat Miser. Just thought you should know.

I know it looks like I have the wrong show here, but just go with me on this

Summary: Dawson’s at the airport (where there are awesome giant hot-air balloons as decorations), about to fly to L.A. Joey’s also there, but they haven’t seen each other for five years, so obviously this is a dream/fantasy/something like that. Dawson says he thinks about Joey a lot and would like to spend some time with her before he flies out. Too bad she’s engaged to someone else.

They make awkward small talk before she starts to leave. Joey says that they had their shot, but Dawson blew it, so she moved on. He needs to do the same because “this is getting sad and ridiculous.” Yep, it’s Dawson’s nightmare. If only he’d stayed asleep longer so we could see Joey rip out his heart a few more times.

Joey and Audrey hang out by the water in Capeside; Audrey wants Joey to come to L.A. with her, but Joey plans to spend the summer in Capeside. Pacey shows up, wearing a security uniform, and Audrey takes off. Joey encourages him to talk to her, but Pacey doesn’t want to revisit his recent humiliations.

Dawson’s trying to get Lily to talk, worried that she’ll say her first word while he’s in L.A. Gail asks if he’s said goodbye to Joey yet. He’s made plans to get together with her, and Gail wonders if this social meeting is really a date. He won’t tell her, claiming he and Joey have nothing to say to each other anyway. She finds that hard to believe.

Jack got his grades back: four C’s and a D. Now he can focus on their summer in Costa Rica, though he’s not sure Jen is still on board. He’s gotten her a copy of Moby Dick to read on the plane so she won’t talk and keep him from sleeping. Joey, Audrey, and Dawson finish up dinner at the Leerys’ restaurant, and Audrey decides to give the other two some time alone to talk. Dawson asks Joey to promise she’ll never marry a lawyer.

Joey reminisces about the last time she and Dawson said goodbye, just before he left for L.A. the first time. They thought it was all epic and dramatic, and then he showed up in Boston just a few months later. She’s not sorry at all about the way things turned out. Finally Joey asks Dawson why he came to Florida. She promises that there will never be a time she doesn’t want to hear what he has to say. He announces that he went to tell her he loves her.

Joey asks why he didn’t say something sooner. Dawson reminds her that she’d moved on by the time he got there; it wouldn’t have been fair to ask her to drop Charlie for him. She wonders when things changed. Dawson names Lily’s birthday party, when he saw Joey’s sketches. He realized that he hates it when Joey isn’t around. She’s worried that he just keeps coming back to her when things are uncertain. Dawson moves in for a kiss, but she rejects him.

The next morning, Dawson takes a cab to the B&B to pick up Audrey. Audrey doesn’t know about the near-kiss the night before, since Joey refuses to talk about it. Audrey drops it, telling Joey that this was the best year of her life. Joey and Dawson only wish each other a good summer, and Joey’s left behind in Capeside.

Patrolling the marina, Pacey runs into Danny, who’s been dumped by his wife. He’s surprised to see Pacey as a security guard but isn’t sympathetic about him losing his job at the restaurant. They’re both screw-ups, but it’s okay because they never have to grow up or conform. Danny says Pacey has a great future ahead of him. Somehow, Pacey isn’t comforted.

Jen and Jack rush to make their flight to Costa Rica, but it’s delayed. Fortunately, they have Dawson and Audrey to hang out with. Also coincidentally in the same gate area: Eric, who went home to tell his parents he’s gay but couldn’t do it. He offers to wait with Jack until his flight leaves. Jack rejects the offer.

Joey’s supposed to start work at the yacht club again for the summer, and she’s not that happy about going back instead of moving forward. Dawson runs into Grams at a newsstand, and she admits that she and Clifton are taking a trip together that Jen doesn’t know about. She doesn’t want Dawson to tell Jen she’s there, partly because she doesn’t want Jen to think she’s going to pressure her into spending the summer with her parents.

Bessie drops by the yacht club with Joey’s passport, reminding her that she’d thought about spending the summer in France. She has something special that came in the mail for Joey. Dawson bugs Jen about her parents, telling her it’s time for her to grow up. She tells him that not everyone is as strong as him; they don’t always do the right thing. He gets her to lie and say she’ll think about it.

Jen asks Jack about Eric, saying he’s a nice person for trying to help a person who wasn’t nice to him. He doesn’t see the big deal in being a friend to someone who needs one. She wants him to stay in Boston to help Eric, and he wants her to go to the Hamptons. Jen says that she needs to help herself for once.

In case Dawson hasn’t run into enough people he knows, next he encounters Todd, who recognizes him but can’t remember from where. He thinks Dawson’s opinionated but gutsy, and he’d like him to keep in touch. Back in Capeside, Joey reads her mail at the marina and confides in Pacey that she feels trapped. She thinks he might be the most adult person she knows – he never looks back. She encourages him to believe in himself more.

Joey brings up Audrey, asking if Pacey misses her. He won’t answer the question. She says Audrey changed her life, and she misses her. Pacey suggests that she might have changed on her own. He thinks that whatever she’s thinking about, she wishes she could change it. Joey says no, then announces that she and Pacey are going after Audrey, and possibly another person, to say what they need to say.

Cue the typical movie/TV rush to the airport. Joey goes off to buy a ticket and stop Audrey, but Pacey has another idea. Jen’s trying to get on a plane to New York but can only get a first-class ticket. (Oh, you poor girl.) She runs into Joey, telling her Dawson changed her mind about her summer plans. She’s sure he’s the reason Joey’s there, too.

Pacey has Audrey paged so he can tell her over the phone that he’s sorry. He knows that might not be enough, but they’ll never know if she gets on the plane. He tells her to meet him downstairs so they can talk. “That is your pitch?” she exclaims. “You are a lazy romantic, Pacey!” She hangs up on him, so he runs to a security office to try to use the intercom.

For some reason, the security officer lets Pacey make a big speech about how he didn’t have the best year, but it got better when he met Audrey. Joey’s energized by the gesture and eagerly tries to get a ticket so she can go to Dawson’s gate. She has to pick a destination, so she randomly picks Milwaukee. “That’s boring,” the ticket agent says. Heh. Joey picks Paris, because apparently money is no object here.

Audrey finds Pacey, who suggests that their next move is to drive to California, “stopping for only food and sex.” (Audrey makes a plea for a visit to the world’s largest ball of yarn.) She tells him he’s lucky because she “kind of” loves him. He thanks her for giving him a second chance. As they leave, he asks if she has any money for gas.

Dawson’s just about to get on the plane when Joey arrives, asking why he didn’t say goodbye. He replies that it was when he tried to kiss her and she turned her head. She admits that she was scared of going backwards and never growing up. At the beginning of the year, she thought they would have to say goodbye, but she was wrong. He’s in her past, her present, and her future. He makes her life better, not worse.

He asks her to go to California, but Joey says she can’t. Dawson’s journey is to California, but Joey’s isn’t. They don’t need to worry if they say everything they need to say to each other. She thinks she knows what the kiss meant, then smooches him. Once again, Dawson doesn’t want to get on the plane, but Joey tells him he has to since it’s his dream to go make movies. If he gets lost, he just needs to remember that she loves him, too.

After some more kissing, Dawson gets on the plane. On her way to New York, Jen enjoys the benefits of first class and chats with her highly improbable seatmate, Todd. Elsewhere, Eric and Jack hang out. Lily says her first word: “Dada.” Audrey and Pacey happily drive to California. Dawson’s seatmate is a woman who hates flying, and he assures her she’ll be okay. Joey goes to refund her ticket to Paris, debating actually using it.

Thoughts: Five seasons down, one to go! I can’t believe I’m in the homestretch already. It seems like just yesterday I was cringing in embarrassment at the pilot.

Pacey’s a security guard and we didn’t get to see Doug make fun of him? I feel cheated.

I don’t think I’ve ever run into someone I knew at the airport, let alone everyone I knew all on the same day.

No way are Joey and Jen close enough to say they love each other. Maybe Joey was just thinking about what she was going to say to Dawson, and it slipped out?

Why the urgency to stop Audrey? She’ll be back in Boston at the end of the summer, right? I always hate those cliché scenes where someone runs through the airport to stop/say goodbye to someone else. You can’t pick up the phone and call the person once the plane lands?

I shouldn’t have laughed at Pacey ending his intercom speech with “free the West Memphis Three,” and yet…